26. Romans Chapter 6 Verses 6-21 - Messages In Romans – Contrasts – If You Are Dead To Sin Why Is Sin Still Ruling You? – Message 26 Series

26. ROMANS CHAPTER 6 VERSES 6-21 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – CONTRASTS – IF YOU ARE DEAD TO SIN WHY IS SIN STILL RULING YOU? – MESSAGE 26

We continue this important Chapter 6 carefully looking at the great doctrines of sin and deliverance, and living the Christian life in the freedom won for us at Calvary. In a very special way Chapter 6 sets the stage for the misunderstood Chapter 7, so we are carefully working through this present chapter.

{{Romans 6:6 “KNOWING THIS, that OUR OLD SELF was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin,

Romans 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.”}}

[A]. THIS YOU MUST KNOW – YOU ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO SIN

{{Romans 6:6 “KNOWING THIS, that OUR OLD SELF was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN,}}

In chapter 5 Paul began the study of freedom, and many aspects are examined by him. Freedom in Christ is a fundamental teaching of the gospel. It was said earlier that Romans and Galatians are parallel in many ways and were probably written at much the same time, and freedom and bondage are covered in both letters. Here now in chapter 6, freedom is the theme as many points are woven around this idea.

Let us look at verse 6 that begins with “know this,” where Paul is more reminding the readers of this fact rather than introducing an altogether new subject. The verse is clear for all Christians. The old life is gone, and should be gone forever. The old self is the body of sin that is our old nature - corrupted and always working against us.

The old self is gone through crucifixion, for when the Lord took the sins of each of us, He was crucified for those sins and so the old nature each of us has; the old man; the old self, was crucified along with Christ. Paul speaks of his crucifixion this way (and so should we too) – {{Galatians 2:20 “I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”}}

When you are crucified you die, and this is what happens to our sins in a genuine conversion. We have died to the slavery of sin, the controlling influence of sin, and stand in the freedom given by the Lord. Our old selves were put to death at the cross, and that is applied at each conversion for the sinner coming to Christ.

These verses follow on from the teaching on baptism. What baptism is speaking of is death and resurrection, so this fact we must know, that in the new relationship with Christ, the old nature has been crucified. That nature, the physical, unregenerate, depraved “body” has now worn out and ought to be discarded. That means the sinful nature, or that body of death, or body of sin, is considered dead.

Union only with Christ has done this, baptism signifying the reality of the fact. Now with the full domination of the old, sinful nature broken or done away with, the believer has been endowed with A NEW NATURE that controls the new attitudes and behaviours in the life of a regenerated person. In Christ we are no longer helpless slaves of sin. The old nature is dead in that its unhindered sinful dominance is broken when the new Christ-nature became the gift from God. The old nature is rendered dead or ineffectual though not annihilated. The NEW NATURE has disconnected us from the dominance of the SINFUL NATURE, which had its operation through the physical body, and we must be careful not to keep wanting to reconnect. We must be VIGILANTLY CAREFUL!

This sixth verse ends with “WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN,” meaning it is possible to place yourself back into that position. In Galatians we saw how there, the people placed themselves under the bondage of the Law. Christians can place themselves into slavery to particular sins in their lives, meaning that a specific sin or attitude of the old nature starts to control them. That must not be the case. All who belong to the Lord are delivered from the old self; dead to it. However some people like to keep resurrecting the old self. Are these people truly converted? I leave that to your own observation.

[B]. VERSE 7 – THOSE WHO HAVE DIED ARE FREE FROM THE CONTROL OF SIN